Police Press Releases

Tempe Police & Angels on Patrol Helping Kids to be Successful in School

Post Date:08/13/2014 4:13 PM

Community Affairs/PIO
molly_enright@tempe.gov

Angels on Patrol & Tempe Police Helping Kids to be Successful in School

Tempe Police have teamed up with the non-profit organization Angels on Patrol and Wells Fargo employees to give a helping hand to kids returning to school. Wells Fargo employees donated 500 Backpacks for students from K-12, coordinating with Angels on Patrol to distribute the packs via local law enforcement. The backpacks were filled with age-appropriate school supplies, including graphing calculators for high school students.

Tempe Police School Resource Officers (SROs) worked with all three school districts, Tempe Union High School District, Kyrene School District, and Tempe Elementary School District staff to distribute the backpacks to students. Tempe SROs, Det. Denison Dawson and Det. Dave Claridge took the lead and were instrumental in organizing the effort. (See attached photo of 17 year old student James Escobar and SRO Det. Dawson).

“Angels on Patrol is a fantastic organization that helps us directly serve children our officers come into contact with on calls for service or at the schools,” said Chief of Police Tom Ryff. “Tempe School Resource Officers partnered with Angels on Patrol on this project to help give kids some of the tools they need to help ensure academic achievement. These Officers are highly motivated – and committed to helping students be successful in school and life; they act as trusted role models, deter delinquent and violent behavior, investigate crimes on campus, serve as a resource for the teachers and administration, and provide safety-related education to students, staff, parents, and community members. This effort is yet another way that we can help kids in our community be safe and successful.”

Angels on Patrol http://angelsonpatrol.com/ is a non-profit charitable organization founded by Phoenix Police Lieutenant Jacqui MacConnell, and is currently led by Interim Executive Director JoAnn Del-Colle, who organized this effort. The organization supports families in crisis and youth who have either been abused or neglected and/or whose caregivers are facing extreme financial hardship, as identified by Phoenix and Tempe Police Officers.